Intimacy coordinators are a new job in Hollywood that spawned after the #MeToo Movmenet that have specialists oversee very intimate scenes (i.e., sex scenes) being shot for films.
While a lot of attested to their value for a production, there are some that have expressed their disdain for the need of an intimacy coordinator. The latest to say so? Gwyneth Paltrow.
Talking to Vanity Fair, Paltrow shared, “There’s now something called an intimacy coordinator, which I did not know existed… I was like, ‘Girl, I’m from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera’s on.’ ”
As it turns out, Paltrow had a lot of sex scenes with Timothee Chalamet (Dune) for this upcoming movie Marty Supreme, and they ended up waving the intimacy coordinator away. Paltrow explains, “We said, ‘I think we’re good. You can step a little bit back,’… I don’t know how it is for kids who are starting out, but…if someone is like, ‘Okay, and then he’s going to put his hand here’ ”—she lays a milky-manicured hand on her own shoulder—“I would feel, as an artist, very stifled by that.” She mostly shrugs at simulating all of that sex with Chalamet: “I was like, ‘Okay, great. I’m 109 years old. You’re 14.’ ”
Most recently, Anora actress Mikey Madison had made headlines when she said they didn’t use an intimacy coordinator for her scenes in Anora. “It was a choice that I made,” said Madison, and she and the producers decided that, “… It would be best just to keep it small. We were able to streamline it, shoot it super quickly.”
Sean Baker, who directed Anora, had this to say about intimacy coordination being a choice for actors:
“I think with intimacy coordination, it’s a case-by-case basis, film-by film-basis. If an actor requests one, 100%. But I have directed approximately 10 sex scenes throughout my career, and I’m very comfortable doing so. It is our No. 1 priority to keep our actors safe, protected, comfortable and involved in the process.”
Looks like in Paltrow’s case, she doesn’t need one; but I wonder what young Timothee was thinking at the time.
